Unless you are French or have a Real French Accent please don't say "Fon - Dont" it sounds ridiculous!



I lived in Montreal Canada for 18 months when I was in my early 20's. I loved it there, I loved the people and I loved speaking french. Now I do realize that Quebecois French is different from France already so I don't need any sermons on it thank you. I took french classes all through high school and I really thought I would do just fine with the language as soon as I arrived but alas that was not the case. I could not understand anything anyone was talking about. They spoke so fast and rolled all of thier words into one almost without breathing in between.

 I was overwhelmed and thought for sure I would live in solitude until I could grasp and hang on to even a few small words. Then on one glorious day someone explained that when you hear "ben lo" which sounds like "banlo" it is almost like hearing an english speaking canadian say "eh". Okay, I got it, I am Canadian, I know that "eh" technically doesn't mean anything!  I started to realized that everyone said bien lo and some added more "lo"s to emphasize the point. It was quite common to hear "Ben Lo Lo" or even  "Ben Lo Lo Lo" I started to cut out all of the ben lo's and work on the other words in the sentence. Suddenly, I could recognize many of the words that I had learned in my earlier years of study and I was on my was to really loving the language. Everything sounded pretty to me, I loved the way they rolled thier "r"s and to me seemed to sing each sentence. It was all so flowing and sing songy. So why am I telling you all this on my Icing Blog. Hang on here it comes.

Then one day I went to hear a gentleman who I knew well and respected very much speak to a large group of people. His first language was english and I was interested to hear him speak in french to a predominately french speaking audience. Well if you could imagine John Wayne speaking french you would have hit the nail on the head. It was terrible, he massacred the language and I felt myself cringing from the moment he opened his mouth until he finally sat down again.

I feel the exact same way when I hear people say "Fon-Dont"

I do believe that it is okay to say Fondant in your regular tone of voice with your own accent. You do not need to stretch out the "Fon" and certainly don't need to say "Dont". If you are french or speak french go right ahead "Fon - Dont" all you want.

So Rolled Fondant is my favourite type of icing to work with. It is like play dough for grown ups. It is so fun and I feel like I have unleashed my inner child again as I work with it. In fact my kids love it almost as much as I do. I give it to them to use as play dough. It does not crumble, I don't find it in my carpet and they can eat it if they so choose.

The only disappointing thing about rolled fondant is that the store boughten kind does not taste good, especially the brand that starts with a W....... and ends with an N. That one is at the top of my list for worst tasting fondant on the planet.  I have tried a few other brands but have found the homemade ones taste the best by far. I have included a recipe below.

 It isn't hard to do, just a little messy and labour intensive to work it into the right consistency. Then you colour it, roll it, form it and create whatever your heart desires. You could even a model a miniature Justin Bieber if you like! Best part... it's edible!  

So try it out, see what you think, just please stop saying "Fon-Dont". If you try it please let me know how it worked out for you.

Marshmallow Rolled Fondant

1/4 cup butter

1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows

4 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Directions

1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.